WIP Wednesday: Croeso progress, Dew Drop Cowl, and a non-knitting FO

Hi all! Happy WIP Wednesday! Here is my latest Croeso progress update picture:

Oh I love this shawlette so much. You might notice, though, that in the top left corner is a little ball of yarn...that's all I have left of this colorway. I'm trying desperately on Ravelry to get a small amount of coordinating yarn to finish with since I am pretty sure that little ball doesn't contain enough yardage.

I know it's a stretch, but does anyone reading this have a small amount of any sport weight wool that might go well with this, that I could buy from you? I can't get another full skein of JDMS Mohonk anytime soon - it's very pricey. It's well worth it, but I just can't do it right now.

Edited to add: Yarn problem solved! Hooray!!!

Also, while I'm asking questions, here's one for anyone who has knit a clapotis: any idea why those who have made it on Ravelry have used such drastically different yardage? I've checked out several projects using just 1 specific yarn, and people have used anywhere between 4 and 10 skeins. I'm having trouble figuring out how much yarn I actually need for the pattern, since the pattern itself says I'll need more than I have but the projects would have me believe otherwise.

On another note, I've realized that the smaller size needles I use, the more my hands hurt when I knit. Right now I am also working on a Dew Drop Cowl - here I am posing with it at the latest Stitch & Bitch:

I'm using size 10 needles for the cowl. My Croeso shawlette is knit on size 4 needles. The difference is crazy - I don't need my wrist braces while working on the cowl and I have almost no hand and wrist pain. When working on the shawlette, I need the braces and I need to pace myself much more and stretch a lot.

Anyway, I'm not in a hurry to finish the cowl because it's a great project to bring to Stitch & Bitch! It's just stockinette except for a few eyelet rows. Great mindless knitting. I still managed to mess up the first eyelet row while working on it at S&B, so I have to make sure to do the eyelets at home! LOL! Most knitting is not truly mindless enough for me to work on it while talking, but straight stockinette or garter I can do.

And here, as promised, is an FO:

I made the little mookaite heart earrings on the left to go with the "Angel Pig" on the right. These were gifts for my second-oldest niece's birthday, which just passed (ohmygosh she's 10 - where does the time go?!). I hope she likes them. We weren't able to give the gifts in person because my sister and her family are camping, so we had to mail them. My hubby picked out the piggy and helped me choose the heart beads. The earrings are sterling silver (posts, headpins and little round beads - all sterling). I like to use the good stuff. ;-)

Not sure if my niece ever wears dangly earrings. These are very short dangles, so maybe she will wear them. She is very athletic, so I didn't think big dangles would be such a great idea! I made sure to use post earring findings so they'd be less likely to fall out of her ears.

I am almost finished with a secret crochet gift project. More on that in 2 or 3 weeks when it's been finished and received...

WIP Wednesday - Woods and Water

How's that for alliteration? Heehee, couldn't resist. I am currently working on a Woods and Water Cowl (that's a Rav link) in Malabrigo Rios in the Indiecita colorway. I am in love with this superwash wool yarn - it is so soft and squishy and the colors are amazing. Unfortunately, it is a little splitty (as I've found out with the k2togs in this pattern - and there are a lot of them), but the end result will definitely be worth it!

I have also started a Dew Drop Cowl in Jill Draper Makes Stuff Mohonk yarn in the Winterfell colorway. The yarn is a beautiful mix of muted grays, greens and blues. No pic because I've only done about 3 rows and it doesn't look like much!

My Stitch & Bitch has been making squares for Knit-A-Square. I've only made 2 so far (and am in the middle of a third), but I feel good knowing they will be parts of warm baby blankets. I highly recommend this charity - all you have to do is make a square! How easy can you get?! One woman in the group crocheted 29 squares by the time it took me to make 2. LOL. Not that I'm comparing. I've been really busy both with other projects and with other life stuff, and they say knitting takes longer than crochet (though I'm convinced it doesn't in my case, I just don't get as bored with garter stitch as I do with simple crochet stitches that don't make pretty shells or the like).

I'm also working on a secret crochet project...can't give any further details now but I will post about it once it has been given to the recipient. 

As for the projects I posted about last time I posted in this blog, the Curvy Knits Flare Top is in time-out for now because I got really frustrated with it, and the Liwen Jacket is hibernating at the moment but I hope I will feel motivated to take it out again soon.

A local yarn store is closing (boooo!), but I did get there and though I still couldn't afford the yarn with 25% off, I was able to get a row counter and some jumbo stitch markers I really needed. I am so happy to finally have a row counter.

Oh, more big yarn-y news: I have a swift!

Here's my setup with the yarn ball winder and tabletop swift. The swift is unfinished wood and was the cheapest I could get, and I am very happy with it. My only problem is that the dowels are difficult for me to get into and out of the holes (you can adjust them for different size yarn hanks), but for the price I paid, that's not such a big deal. The lovely creation on the ball winder is the aforementioned Jill Draper Mohonk yarn.

In other news entirely, my husband just had back surgery and seems to be recovering well! Hooray!

Hello out there!

Happy New Year! I realize it's been a really long time since my last post. I was crocheting up a storm for a while there, and I'll try to post about that another time; but now I've returned to my other passion: making things with beads. The Etsy store is open again. Here's a little sample for your viewing pleasure: I've been making loads of stitch markers. The spoons are my latest. They are a nod to The Spoon Theory, a wonderful article by Christine Miserandino about living with a chronic illness. Spoons have come to symbolize awareness of diseases such as lupus and fibromyalgia, which affect many, including some close to me. I plan to make spoon earrings soon, and maybe some other spoon jewelry if the customers want it. Also, snag-free spoon stitch markers just for knitting are in the works. (I may yet try to do snag-free ones for crochet, too...Keep an eye out!)

I've also been working on selling a bunch of things on eBay (click here if you'd like to see). I'm selling my father-in-law's amazing collection of vintage hand-carved pipes--he hasn't smoked since the 1970's and has no place to display them, so it made sense to sell them. They are worth a look at my eBay items just to see the beautiful craftsmanship. I have a new admiration for pipes now! I've got 3 up for auction at the moment, with many more coming in the next few weeks/months. Also available are a vintage 1980's Lando Calrissian (Star Wars - Empire Strikes Back) action figure, unopened; and a few other items.

There are 2 knitting projects that I want to start: a Cloudsoft Cowl with some amazing Filatura Di Crosa Superior yarn in a gorgeous lavender color that my mom gave me over the summer, and a basic garter stitch blanket using Yarntopia Treasures Bulky Cotton Chenille in the "Turtle" colorway (not pictured, but it's got green and purple and oh boy is it yummy!). I want to start the cowl at Stitch & Bitch so I can get some help, but I think I'll start the blankie on my own. I just hope I'll actually do it soon. I've been so busy with the Etsy and eBay shops and various other life stuff.

I now have a Facebook page! Please go "like" it if...well...if you like it. ;) I post Etsy and eBay stuff and some other fun things including cute turtles and funny stuff that's relevant. Please remember to "like" each update so they'll keep showing up in your newsfeed. Thank you!!

And that's it for now. Time to drink more coffee and make more stitch markers!

Wingspan progress, secret and not-so-secret crochet

Well, here I am again. Hello! :) Since my last entry, I've started making that Wingspan scarf/shawlette. I've finished 2 "triangles" so far and am starting on the 3rd (they are all knitted as one piece, but look like separate triangles, and for each one you have to cast on some new stitches). It's a really fun project. Here's a pic I took when I was still working on the first triangle (note the handmade stitch markers! I love my coffee bean and butterfly):



Sorry it gets cut off at the edge there. Please click on the picture if you'd like to get the full effect. I tried to do the cable cast-on after the first triangle, when the pattern says to cast on 16 st. I did it wrong, but it still worked! Anyway, yesterday at S&B, another member very kindly taught me the correct way to do it. I am really glad, and I really hope I remember how to do it when it gets to be time to cast on new stitches for the next triangle!

I caved and bought my own set of interchangeable circular needles. I wound up getting the Trends Acrylic Deluxe Set by Knitter's Pride. I actually got it from an ebay seller so I could get free shipping. I got a really good deal. I am not in love with the needles--I find the acrylic to be a bit "sticky"--but they are fine for my first set. I'll get wooden ones when I can, but for now, these will do.

I lined my Spring Bag with the scarf, as planned. Here it is:



I've been using it as a project bag, and I absolutely love it! The lining is not strong at all, so I have to take care that my needles don't punch through it (I'm using it to hold Wingspan for now).

I have a few secret crochet projects to work on at the moment. I'm itching to blog about them, but won't be able to till...probably June. Shhhh.

The one not-secret crochet project I need to start is a Seraphina's Shawl for my mother, whose birthday is May 30 (!!!). Gotta get going on that. She requested it, hence the not-secretness. ;) I've had the yarn for it for a while (Lion Brand Homespun in Windsor, a pretty blue colorway). I should probably be working on it now, but instead I am blogging. Oy vey.

I bought a lovely sleeveless lavender dress for a friend's rehearsal dinner later this month. I am so excited about it. I really, really want to make a shrug to go with it, but I have neither the time nor the right yarn. I've actually bought 2 black boleros, but one is too big and the other seems a little too informal. I don't know. I'd rather return those and make my own. I wish I had much more time!

I leave you with this photo of gorgeous lilacs blooming in the courtyard of our apartment complex:

Spring Bag almost done, new knitting, and love for the S&B Group

I am finally almost done with the Spring Bag. I just have to add a lining. Here it is, with the old scarf I plan to use for lining it:



I got a lot of help from an online friend for this one. I modified it a little by adding a few rows of double crochet and a simple edging, and I only did one drawstring. I tried to do 2 and have them going out the sides like the pattern says, but the bag didn't close right that way. Anyway, I'm pretty satisfied with it. I will have to find tutorials on lining bags, since I have very little idea how to sew into crochet using regular thread, let alone how to line a bag to begin with.

I've started a new knitting project. Nothing amazing, just a very simple garter stitch scarf using Caron Spa yarn. I'm using it to practice my knitting. I found that I couldn't practice seed stitch or stockinette or ribbing or anything like that while watching TV or being otherwise distracted, so I needed a simple project.



We had a wonderful Stitch & Bitch session today. We went to see an art exhibit at a local town hall that 2 of our members had artwork in, which was really fun. Then we invaded the town hall cafeteria.

I had forgotten to bring lunch, but others had generously brought some food that I could eat! Gluten-free multigrain tortilla chips and spinach hummus, and an iced green tea. I am so spoiled by these ladies. I love them so much.

A friend is lending me her size 4 circular needles so I can make a Wingspan (that's a Ravelry link) scarf/wrap. I am so excited. I'll be using some Yarntopia Treasures Bamboo Cotton yarn in this colorway (Poseidon) that my husband got me a while back. Wish me luck! ;)

And another of my knitter friends is such an enabler: she gave me yarn. PURPLE yarn. How could I possibly resist?! *drool*



I am so lucky to have this wonderful S&B group in my life. I also have way too much yarn...although I'm not convinced that there is such a thing. There are so many things I want to make!

Trip to the Lion Brand Outlet with the S&B group

Today, many of us from the Stitch & Bitch group took a trip to Carlstadt, NJ to go to the Lion Brand Yarn Outlet. We had such a great time! As you can tell from this picture (or maybe you can't--it's not great quality, but it's the best my cell phone could do!), it's quite stunning. Lots of amazing knit and crochet "sculptures," pillows, and yarn-bombed items. Examples below:





Friendly penguins and a yarn-bombed bike!

I would have taken more pictures, but I was too busy gawking at the yarn and talking with my S&B girlfriends. I went there with a mission: to procure as much Lion Brand Homespun yarn as I possibly could, in as many pretty colors as possible, within the budget I'd set for myself. (And also enough in certain colors to make certain things, which will eventually be revealed. But I won't spoil it for you...yet.)  Here's my haul:



Another blurry pic, I know, but you can still make out the colors (though this picture really doesn't do them justice at all). After buying all that, including the 2 pattern books you can barely make out in this photo and a few knitting accessories, I came out $10 under the budget I'd set for myself! WIN! So I went back for more, and here it is:



All in all, I made out like a Lion-Brand-Homespun-obsessed bandit. ;) Afterward, the group of us--12 (I think?) in total, in 3 different cars--headed out in search of lunch. As was inevitable, we all eventually wound up taking different routes and getting totally confused about where to meet up. Next time, we'll be careful to make sure that we have everyone's cell phone numbers! 2 of the 3 cars (including the one I was in) eventually caught up with each other, and we decided to head to a restaurant back in White Plains for lunch. Lunch was great (even though we missed the folks from the other car). We ate well, and celebrated a group member's birthday. There was much talking and laughter involved.

What a great day!


I need to catch up on my blog posting. I have quite a few projects to share.

Sort of secret stuff

I'm working on some secret projects right now. I have one gift in the making that just needs an edging, and then it will be done (and I will post pics after it's been given to the recipient). I have a baby gift that I recently finished and sent out to a friend, which I don't want to post photos of until I know it's been received.

Mon urban hat, pic taken from the pattern website

Less secret: I will soon be making gifts for my niece, whose birthday is coming up too quickly! She'll be 6 on the 31st. I plan to make Mon urban hat and a Spring Bag for her, both from Lily Sugar 'N' Cream yarn in robin's egg blue (blue is her favorite color, or at least it was the last time I checked!). Hope to get started tonight if possible. If crises occur before her big day, we'll buy her a toy instead; but I really want to make her something.

Spring Bag, pic taken from the pattern website

Also, I will soon be making a hat for a friend of some friends who has a terminal illness. I don't know him--we've never even met--but any friend of theirs is a friend of mine, and I am glad to be able to give something to help out. I'm going to use Caron Simply Soft in Dark Sage (which is really more of a forest green).

I've re-started my little knitting swatch. I got sick of looking at the holes, and when I tried to fix them, things got even more screwed up...So I decided to start over from scratch and try my hand(s) at casting on. :) I did it! I am so proud of myself. My friend who is teaching me at S&B (which I unfortunately did not get to attend this week) uses the Continental Method. I've never used the English Method, so I don't know which is "better" (and my knitting friends tell me it's just a matter of personal preference). I think I like Continental, though. It seems like it might be slightly less complicated (?), and some say it's quicker. As an impatient person, I think the quickest method should suit me best!

I've gotten some books out of the library, including Stitch 'N Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook, which is what I used to figure out how to cast on. It seems pretty comprehensive; I think I may need to own it as soon as I have some money. For now, hooray for libraries!!!

Any other book suggestions for a very new knitter?

I picked up The Yarn Girls' Guide to Simple Knits at the bookstore the other day at a really low price. The projects in it are mainly made with chunky yarns and big needles, and I don't have big needles yet, but I'm sure I will at some point. For now, I just have the size 8 needles that my friend is letting me use.

Knitting? And more FO's...

I can knit! Sort of. Last week at Stitch & Bitch, one of my amazing friends there taught me to knit. Of course, she cast on for me, and all I know how to do so far is the knit stitch. Also, this piece has progressed a little, and now has holes in it where I messed up. Holes! But I will learn how to do this, slowly but surely. I say "slowly" only because I have so many crochet projects to work on right now that the knitting's got to go on the back burner. One project is a top-secret gift, which is almost done. The others are less secret gifts that haven't even been started yet, and one has to be done by the end of the month! Eeps!

Now for the FO's.

I made this Snuggly Scarf for my mother-in-law for her birthday, which was toward the end of last month:



She loves it! I am so happy. It's Lion Brand Homespun in Nouveau, which has a brown base combined with shades of blue, purple, and teal. Very pretty. I picked up another skein so I can eventually make myself one in that colorway!

Also, our Stitch & Bitch group made hats and scarves for veterans for Valentine's Day. I made 2 hats to contribute. Here they are:





And finally, something that's not an FO, but something to laugh at. I started making a baby hat from Lion Brand Velvetspun that I'd had sitting around for a few years. I don't know if the problem was the yarn itself, or the age of the yarn; but wow, this thing was a mess. The pattern didn't really help, either. It's a cute hat with a knot on top, but first you have to make the "cord" to tie into the knot. Hence, this thing:



Some poor purple elephant lost its trunk! ;) This yarn was shedding all over the place, and when I tried to weave in the end so I could tie the "trunk" in a knot, ALL of the fluffiness of the yarn came off and the ends became just thread. Impossible to work with. I gave up, but I had to document it first!

And that's it for now. Have a great weekend!

Working with wire, a little crochet, and maybe a little crochet with wire?

Sorry I've been absent from blog and Twitter land for a while. I've been going a little crazy with some family and work stuff, so my hobbies have had to take a backseat to brainless activities like watching TV when I've had the time, because I just haven't felt up to creating much.

I'm planning to come back with a vengeance as soon as I can, though. ;) I had another wirework class last Sunday with a very talented instructor, and I plan to practice a lot of what I've learned with some copper wire I bought. In all likelihood, I'll eventually be making some copper wirework jewelry to sell, since copper is both pretty and affordable. But I'm getting ahead of myself, as usual. First, I must practice!! I've also taken out several books on wirework from the library, so I've got a ton of different ideas floating around. Just gotta harness them. Wish me luck. :)

I do have a small problem, though: I really, really need a good pair of flush cutters for cutting larger-gauge wire. The only ones I have now are good for cutting 20-gauge and above, and I really want to work with some 16- and 18-gauge. But I can't, for now, because good flush cutters cost money and so do the groceries, and it's not really hard to decide which of those we need more. I may eventually cave and just use the plastic to buy some flush cutters, but it all depends on what I can find.

A pair of earrings from my Etsy shop were just featured in this Etsypreneurs Team Treasury! Yeehaw!! Many other beautiful things are showcased there, as well. Please take a look.

As for the crochet, it hasn't gone anywhere since my last Stitch & Bitch, 2 weeks ago (I couldn't make it to last week's S&B). The next one's tomorrow, though, so I hope I can get some good crocheting done. The shawl I am making is going to be beautiful--the tiny little piece of it that I have made already is--but I do not know when/where I will possibly wear it. I haven't really been a shawl person in the past. Maybe this one will convert me, though...Who knows?!

I'd also really like to try crocheting with wire. I have a specific project in mind: I have a beautiful pendant that I bought from a jewelry artist a few years ago (unfortunately, I don't remember her name or have a way of tracking her down). It's a sterling silver crocheted wire circle with a larger-gauge wire frame, and a few beads toward the middle. I should take a picture of it so you can see what I'm talking about.

I want to learn how to make pendants like that one. I may have to figure out how to make it myself, though, since I haven't found anything like it since I bought it, much less anything like it with a tutorial. I've seen instructions for crocheted wire circle pendants, but none of them have frames, and I don't really like the way they look without frames. I do not know if the artist crocheted the frame onto the pendant (which it looks like she did), or how.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Yeah, I know, my last post was titled "Valentine's Day." A little redundant. But today, it actually is Valentine's Day, so I am wishing you a happy one. My husband and I will be exchanging small gifts later this evening, and I have no idea what he got me, so I am really excited! I won't say what I got him, either, since he doesn't know yet. ;) Maybe I'll tell you in my next post if any of you are curious!

I still have no projects on my crochet hooks (well, except the ones that are hibernating, and most of them will probably stay that way at this point). I have, however, spent some time on Ravelry lately (I'm smilingturtle on there, and I welcome new friends). I'm hopeful that tonight, I will start work on a South Bay Shawlette using my Yarntopia Rayon Boucle in the Arizona colorway.

That is the yarn of which I have half a skein wound, half a skein incredibly tangled (wahhh!), and 2 unwound skeins. (Is that right, or am I supposed to call them "hanks" when they're not wound yet? Yarn terminology is a little confusing to me.) I'll start with that wound half-skein and see what happens. I'll probably have to wind more, and I hope it won't get tangled again!

I also really want to start a Sera Lace Top for myself. Actually, the South Bay Shawlette is also for me--I'm being selfish for a bit! Anyway, I haven't decided yet whether I want to use purple Tatamy Tweed or NaturallyCaron.com Spa in Ocean Spray. The tweedy yarn might look weird in such an open pattern, but it might also look really cool. And I've been wanting to work with Spa for a long time. This is going to be a tough decision. What would you do? For reference, here's a pic of my Tatamy Tweed:

And here's a pic of the Spa, courtesy of NaturallyCaron.com:


What do you think? Which would make a better Sera?

I want to start the Shawlette first, since I may be able to take it to Stitch & Bitch on Friday if it turns out to be easy enough to work on while talking. :) I'll just need to have enough of the yarn wound for that. *gulp*

On the beading front, I have been making Purple Butterfly Stitch Markers. I am selling them in my Etsy store and donating 20% of the cost of the item (not including shipping) to the National Fibromyalgia Association. (They have not endorsed my product in any way; I'm just doing this on my own.) One of the symbols for fibromyalgia awareness is a purple butterfly, and fibromyalgia awareness is a cause close to my heart, so I thought this would be a good idea. I have sold some already, and I have 2 more sets for sale in the store now and will make more soon.

I also took a wire work class on Sunday. It was a lot of fun! I finally have the right sort of hammer for hammering wire, and I finally got to actually hammer some. It was exciting. I also learned to make head pins with curly ends, and brushed up on how to make briolette wraps. The instructor tried to teach us her way to make wrapped loops, but I am afraid that I'm stuck in my ways with that one, so I'll just continue to do what works for me as long as it still looks pretty and consistent!

There will be a second class in 2 weeks, and I am really looking forward to it.

And that, my friends, is my long Valentine's Day post. I hope you are all having a wonderful day full of chocolate. Mmmm, chocolate. (And if you don't like chocolate...I still hope you're having a wonderful day!)

Valentine's Day

Tomorrow, my Stitch & Bitch group's Valentine's Day hat and scarf project for the children's hospital comes to a close. I am very ashamed to admit that I still haven't finished that one scarf. I'm maybe almost about halfway done. The pattern is really slow going, at least for me; and the Red Heart Super Saver yarn is driving me crazy. It's so coarse and splitty. I think it has its purpose, and I might use that kind of yarn for other things someday (at least I hope I will, since I have some in my stash!); but it does not inspire me to make pretty things, or at least not this particular pretty thing.

Maybe I should've used some of my Caron Simply Soft instead? Doesn't matter now, but maybe if we undertake another charity project in the future, I should pick my own yarn.

I have had very little time to crochet lately, anyway. I am going to try to find some crochet time in the mornings before work.

I haven't done a whole heck of a lot of playing with the beads lately, either. I do have a picture of the Valentine's Day stitch markers I mentioned in my last post:

And they can be found in my Etsy store, here. Happy early Valentine's Day!

I really like Valentine's Day. I always have. I used to throw Valentine's Day parties when I was in college, whether I was single and bitter or happily (or unhappily) coupled. I always felt that it was a good time to let my friends know how much I appreciated them. (And to eat CHOCOLATE. Lots of chocolate!) I've been known to send out Valentine's Day cards to my friends, too, but I don't think I'll get to it this year. I hope I will at least send them out to my family. I have a card for my hubby already, and a little gift for him. Yes, I love the Hallmark hype. So sue me. ;)

Love is a good thing, and should be celebrated!

Insert witty title here

Once again, "real life" has been interfering with my crocheting and beading adventures. *sigh* I keep planning to do more interesting crochet stuff, but I'm still just making that one darn scarf for the children's hospital. If you're on Ravelry, you can check out the pattern here. It's called "Skinny Cabled Scarf." Lots of front and back post double crochet, making a reversible cabled pattern. It's pretty cool, but it takes a while. I've also pretty much only been working on it at Stitch & Bitch. The other ladies have been stitching up a storm, so we may actually make our goal of two dozen scarf and hat sets by Valentine's Day, despite my delinquency. :P

Don't know when I'm ever going to start that baby hat for my family friend's grandson. Maybe when he's about 2 years old? OK, now I'm just being mean to myself. I'll get to it eventually--and I'll make it big-ish, and he'll grow into it. I hope that's a good plan. Anyway, a baby hat shouldn't take me too long to make. (I hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying that.)

Meanwhile, since I last posted, I've made a bracelet to match that cool green ceramic bead necklace. Here's a pic:

I plan to list it and the necklace soon. I also made a bracelet to match the unakite necklace. It's a little long, since I wanted it to have a clasp to match the one on the necklace, and I didn't want to make it too short. After all, I can always shorten it for a customer; I can't lengthen it without re-stringing it. But I'd be willing to do that for a customer as well, of course.

I've also made a whole bunch of stitch markers. I made a set with a Valentine's Day theme, a set with Czech flower beads in 3 different colors, and some purple butterflies, among others. They'll all be listed in my Etsy store soon. Here's a photo of those Czech flower bead markers:

These can also be 3 pairs of earrings, if you'd prefer! I actually had a customer order 6 coffee bean stitch markers because she wanted 3 pairs of coffee bean earrings. The lever back earring hooks are great. These stitch markers/earrings are much cheaper than what I usually make, because the head pins are base metal and the lever back hooks are silver plated. I am a little bit of a snob when it comes to my jewelry-making materials, and will usually use sterling silver or gold filled for jewelry before I'll use "base metal" (confession: I don't even know exactly what that means, besides inexpensive!) or metal plated. (Though I've been thinking about branching out into copper and brass.)

I've also been doing a lot of soul searching when it comes to the jewelry business and how I want to run it and what my goals are. I've been reading loads of books and websites. I bought a book called The Handmade Marketplace the other day, because I'd been reading it in the bookstore and thought it was helpful enough that I wanted to own it. Thanks to the book, I finally understand the concept of "branding," which I really didn't before.

I also need to contact my accountant (she doesn't even know I've started a business!) and make an appointment with a SCORE representative.

Also, I bought a really cute little Sony Vaio laptop for the purpose of watching beading and wire work tutorial videos while I'm actually working on said beading or wire work. I got a very good deal on the computer. Because of the layout of our apartment, my desktop computer is not anywhere near my jewelry/stitch marker workspace, so watching tutorials on that would be useless unless I had a really good memory--which I don't. ;)

And now I must bid you adieu so I can go do "real life," non-crafty things. Boooo.

New adventures in necklace-making, other business goings on, and a little crochet

Thought I'd start out this entry with a nice big pic of my smiling face. (Yeah, I probably should've put on some make-up, but my husband didn't give me much warning before he took this!) And what's that around my neck? Could it be...a brand new handmade necklace using fabulous green Israeli ceramic beads? Why, yes, indeed it is!

(If you look closely, you'll notice that I'm also wearing my own personal pair of Bali sterling silver puff bead dangle earrings.)

The ceramic beads are handmade and hand-painted by needy elderly people in Jerusalem, and I buy straight from the organization that employs them--it's a total win/win scenario, because they get the support they need and I get really interesting and completely unique beads to work with. I have a lot of these beads to play with right now, in a variety of different colors. It's very exciting.

I absolutely love this new necklace, which I finished last night. The larger round beads have silver glitter on them, and the smaller beads don't; the smaller ones are a slightly different shade and are textured. I've put fair trade greenish pearls (I say "greenish" because some look pretty green and others look more like peacock pearls) on either side of each of the ceramic beads. In between the ceramic bead and pearl combinations are Japanese seed beads in black, dark rainbow and silver. The seed beads make a nice asymmetrically colored design, which I think is spectacular, not that I'm biased. ;)

I finished the necklace off with sterling silver round beads, sterling crimp ends and a plain sterling silver toggle clasp.

It will be for sale in my Etsy store once I've taken good pictures and figured out what the price should be. Pricing is always a little tricky. It's very mathematical--I don't just pull my prices out of thin air. I have to figure out the costs of all the supplies involved and other expenses incurred in making each piece and listing it on Etsy, and then I have to multiply that amount by a certain number and hope that will make me a profit. Definitely lots of hope involved.

I also have a really gorgeous unakite and sterling silver necklace that I will be listing soon. It also needs to be priced first, but at least I already have the photos. I had never worked with unakite before. The more I looked at it, the more enamored I became with the gemstone's color combination of moss green and coral.

Here's a picture of it:


In other Smiling Turtle news, today I shipped off 2 sets of stitch markers to Chile (a woman ordered them for her aunt who lives there), and I will soon be sending a set to Minnesota. I've also had items featured in 2 treasuries (links below):

I'd Rather Make My Own Gift, Thank You Anyway! by PlainJane4 (A cool DIY-themed treasury! Right up my alley!)

and

My hearts a flutter by glamourpusscouture (Hearts and butterflies! Um, also sorta right up my alley.)


As far as my crochet goes, not much to report. OK, nothing to report. *sigh* Most of my creative energy and time is going toward beading at this point. I have yet to start that baby hat I wrote about. My Stitch & Bitch group is working on hats and scarves for a local children's hospital. I started a scarf at our last group, but got really bored with just a simple single crochet pattern, so I'm trying to figure out a good stitch or pattern for a kid's scarf (gotta be unisex for this).

I looked on Ravelry for kids' scarf patterns, but couldn't find anything that fit the bill. (I wouldn't know how to modify an adult pattern to fit a kid--I don't know kids' sizes that well, and I don't really know how to modify patterns.) I should check Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Crochet, which I have at home.

Any suggestions from my stitchy friends? (Crochet only, please!)

What I've been making lately

Time for some blurry cell phone photos! Sorry about the poor quality.

Here's a scarf (yet another Snuggly Scarf) I'm making for a friend. Needed something easy to work on at Stitch & Bitch. This picture is terrible. The yarn is really a little darker and more of a gray-blue color.

I still really, really, really want to start making some sort of a sweater/top for myself. My husband is still working on untangling the fabulous yarn my in-laws got me, but it seems like it may be a lost cause. (I don't know...he is stubborn. He just hasn't had much time to work on it.)

Instead of starting the Sera, maybe I will start the Jewel top from "Everyday Crochet" by Doris Chan. I have some yarn I've been meaning to make that with for quite some time. Trouble is, it also needs to be wound, and I've lost much of my confidence in my winding ability. I'm hoping that if I put it around 2 chairs and try really hard not to let it get twisted, it'll work. However, I don't seem to be very good at that whole keeping it from getting twisted thing. *gulp*

On a different note, since this post is about making things, I made cookies!

They are gluten free chocolate chip cookies. I used a mix from Cherrybrook Kitchen. They are so good! I'd never used the mix before, and I was very pleasantly surprised. I made these for my office's holiday party and for my S&B ladies.

The holiday party was today, and it was great. My coworker and his wife made latkes. *drool* They made them without flour just because I'd told him I couldn't have regular flour! I appreciated that so much. I think I ate about half the latkes, and there were a lot. There was a lot of other food, too, but since I can't have wheat or soy, I have to be pretty careful. I mostly ate latkes and the cookies I'd made, and a little fruit. Tomorrow, I am going to start paying attention to my Weight Watchers online tracking tool again! Really I am!

I made some new stitch markers the other day. They are little tulips made with Czech flower beads. One of my S&B friends thought they were martini glasses! Heehee...That'd be cute, too! I'll post a picture (and list them in my Etsy store) as soon as I can.

A good friend went to IKEA recently and picked up a lamp for me that I can use to light up the top of my light box (so far, I've only been working with 2 desk lamps, one on either side of the box). I needed one that was tall enough to curve above the top of the box and light it up without burning the tissue paper! Mission accomplished--hooray! With any luck, I will soon have brighter pictures. (Except for my cell phone pics, which will still be kind of bad. Sorry.) ;)

Secret-ish projects, dieting, and more gifts

Sorry I haven't been around much lately. I am still working on a secret crochet project for my nephew, so I can't post much about that...other than the fact that I am now going to have to frog it for the second time! At least I won't have to frog the whole thing this time.

Had fun at Stitch & Bitch today. It was just me and D. Good thing we enjoy each other's company! ;) It's always nice to have someone (or a group of people) to hang out with during my lunch break, and it's especially nice to have someone (or a group of people) to crochet with!

I'm also working on a beaded bracelet for my cousin's daughter. She's either a tween or a teen, I'm not completely sure of her age but I think she's around 12ish. I tried to make it like another bracelet that I'd just sold, only shorter with an extendable chain closure; but I didn't quite have the right beads, so I'm making it a little different. It's pretty. Rose quartz, amethyst, lepidolite and silver beads. I will take a pic when I'm done and post it here once I'm sure it's been given to her (she won't be there for our Chanukah party/my grandma's 95th birthday party, so I'm sending it back to her with my cousin). I hope she will like it!

As I mentioned, I recently sold a bracelet from The Smiling Turtle Etsy store. It was the only bracelet I'd listed. Amethyst, rose quartz, and silver. I am very happy that someone bought it, and I am also very aware that I need to post more bracelets! (Including the one from my last post!) I've decided to include a little insert with it about who made it and where it was made, the metaphysical properties of the gemstones, etc. I will probably start doing that with all of my handmade jewelry, or at least the gemstone jewelry. It's work, but it's fun work, and it's something I think people will appreciate because I know that I appreciate something like that when I buy a handmade item or receive one as a gift.

Meanwhile, I have put myself on a "bead diet" (I bought waaay too many beads last month). We'll see how long I can keep this up. I am determined not to drive us into debt with my addiction...but...the shinies...they are so tempting!

I'll still be getting little presents in the mail for a bit, because the beads I ordered from Israel haven't arrived yet, and neither have some Swarovski crystal cubes and assorted other ebay purchases.

Ohhh, also, we had a little Chanukah celebration at my in-laws' house last weekend. Guess what they gave me? YARN! And sterling silver beading chain! And they stuffed us full of pot roast and latkes and gluten-free brownies! How awesome are they?!

I am having such a crafty Birthukkah season. I love it.

That's pretty much it for now. And I thought I wouldn't have much to write! HA!!! :)

Poncho (almost done!), Black Friday/Cyber Monday Etsy sale, my birthday, and more

Happy Black Friday, everyone! How was your Thanksgiving? We had a good time at my sister's. I ate too much, of course (that's the whole point of the holiday, right?). And yes, I did go shopping today, but only for about 45 minutes during my lunch break because I had to work. It was absolute mayhem (the shopping, not the work!), but I survived. :)

I'm almost finished with the poncho for my littlest niece! Here's a picture of how it looked a few days ago:


I'm now on the last row of the edging, and I still have to do the collar. Easy stuff. I should be done with it very soon. Then I get to start on my nephew's Chanukah gift, which is a surprise, so I won't be able to post it here! How sad. But hopefully, the payoff will be worth it!

I am really starting to worry that the ponchos will be extremely huge on my nieces. I'd forgotten just how small the girls are, until I saw them yesterday...I know they'll grow into them, but I want them to be able to wear their ponchos right away! I'm an impatient auntie. Well, I'll try to get a picture of them all poncho-ed up at our family Chanukah party on December 11, even if the ponchos are huge.

I have to make more stitch markers! I'm having a big sale over at The Smiling Turtle Etsy store for Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend, and I've already sold a few. I'm selling the stitch markers at such low prices right now that I'm not sure I'm making a profit at all, but...My loss, my customers' gain, right?! I'll figure it out eventually! ;)

Right now, I'm offering free shipping on everything, plus a 10% discount if you enter the code CYBERMON at checkout. (Please note: that's CYBERMON, short for Cyber Monday. Already had a little confusion over that today.)

Here are some of the newer stitch markers that I've made:


I also have some other new flower beads to play with, so there may be more flower stitch markers in the near future. There may be some flower earrings, too. Hmmm.

My birthday is tomorrow! I'm so excited! I get like a little kid about my birthday. I don't get very upset about that whole being a year older thing. I just go, "Ooooh! Presents! Cake! Yippeeeeee!!!"

When I went to Stitch & Bitch on Wednesday, my friend D had baked me a flourless chocolate cake for my birthday! (I can't eat wheat, so flourless chocolate cake is my favorite treat!) What a sweetheart. She also gave me a card from the whole gang. 2 of them weren't there, probably because of the holiday.

My mom and grandmother gave me presents yesterday: a renewal of my subscription to Interweave Crochet, and a big blocking board! I have been in need of a blocking board for some time. I know you can make your own, but that would've been a big project to undertake in our not-so-big apartment. Also, I really needed a folding one. Maybe now, I will actually block things like my Queen Anne's Lace Scarf? We'll see! I'm still feeling a little intimidated at the thought of all those pins...

I've recently had items featured in 3 great treasuries on Etsy. Here are the links if you'd like to see them:
Goth-a love it! Black Friday Sale Items in Black!
Red ripe berry colors found on Black Friday
Gifts for everyone on your list

And I guess that's it for now! Please stay tuned.

Seraphina's Shawl - WIP

Seraphina's Shawl - WIP
Originally uploaded by saintlex

I re-started the Seraphina's Shawl I'm making for my grandma. It was coming out all weird! This time around, I'm following the pictures in the original pattern, and it's making a lot more sense. I am getting close to the row where the pattern "ends" and you're just sort of on your own to continue it...I think I'm close to mastering it, though. At least, I hope I am. :)

This is working up a lot more quickly than I'd thought it would, seeing as how I don't get that much time to crochet per day. I would love to take it with me to S&B on Wednesday, but I think it might be too big for me to work on there. I don't know. I'm not used to working on big stuff at all--shawls, blankets, etc. Well, I did make a baby blanket at one point, but I don't think I brought it with me anywhere while I was working on it.

I think I will probably start my third (and last) poncho at the S&B. This one will be for the 3-year-old. It'll also be in Lion Homespun, in colorway "Antique." It's sort of a dark pinky-purple. I hope the girls won't be unhappy that 2 of them are getting blue and one's getting pinkish purple...Knowing them, they'll all want the pinkish purple color, since it says "princess" much more than blue does. Although, Cinderella wears blue, right? So there. :P

We're going to see my sister, brother-in-law, and nieces and nephew for Halloween. My mom and I are going trick-or-treating with them. (They'll collect the candy, we'll take it when they're done. Just kidding!!) Anyway, it should be really fun and really cute.

Finished poncho, Surreybelle Scarf, Seraphina's Shawl, and Noro Taiyo

Time for more photos! :) I finished the poncho for my 4-y/o niece. It looks really nice. I took it to Stitch & Bitch on Wednesday, and everyone seemed to like it. Not the best picture of the poncho, but this'll give you some idea of what it looks like:

It's made from Lion Homespun in colorway "Delft." I really, really like this colorway for my li'l niece; I hope she'll like it, too. I've been told that blue is her favorite color.

For a slight change of pace, I decided to pick up a project that had been hibernating for a while--the Surreybelle Scarf (pattern available as a free download on Ravelry). I brought it to S & B with me. I started working on it again, and quickly realized why it had been in hibernation for so long! First of all, the yarn is a real pain to work with. It's Cherry Tree Hill Zebra Caribe, which is made of a few strands plied together, and it's very, very splitty. Second, I'd been crocheting really tightly when I was working on it before. Like, serious hand-cramp tightness. When I started working on it again, I found that I no longer crochet that tightly--but in order to match my old gauge, I had to. OUCH. It sure is pretty, though:

I just hope I can get myself to finish it!

And finally, I'm trying to make Seraphina's Shawl for my grandmother for her birthday/Chanukah present. It was really, really difficult for me starting out. I printed out the directions from the link above, this version here, and the errata. Good grief. I got very confused. Now I seem to be doing OK, but it's still pretty hard to tell what I'm doing, since I'm using Lion Homespun again (I have so much of that stuff!) and it can be hard to tell if I'm crocheting in the right place (especially when it says to crochet into a ch-1 sp, since it's not always clear where those are!). I've made it through the 4th row:


Also, I tried to crochet some fingerless mitts with the gorgeous Noro Taiyo I have, and was incredibly disappointed in the yarn. I encountered some problems and had to frog, and this yarn is VERY difficult for frogging. It tangled, and it even broke in some places. It was awful. I've checked the projects others have made with it on Ravelry, and they seem to have done OK making all sorts of things...But I may wind up having to do something really simple with it, since I can't do anything with it that I might have to frog, since frogging it might just not work at all! *sigh*

Drool-worthy sheep-free yarn, poncho update, and other thoughts

I created a treasury on Etsy of really nice, non-wool yarn from various sellers, for those who have wool sensitivities or anyone else who's interested. Bamboo, silk, cotton, and more. It's all variegated, and the colors are beautiful. Click here to see.

I finished the poncho for my 4-year-old niece last night! I am so excited. It turned out really nicely. It's almost perfect, except for maybe one mistake which only I know about...Oops, guess the secret's out now. ;) There were a lot of mistakes in the first poncho, but I think it still turned out well, I just hope it'll be OK with wear. (I also hope they'll wear these a lot! But who knows?)

Now, on to the poncho for the 3-year-old. I had planned to make it in a turquoise yarn that I bought that isn't Lion Homespun or bulky weight, but now I'm reconsidering. I'm not very good at modifying patterns (ha, that's an understatement--I've really only done it once, and that wasn't on purpose!). But if I don't modify the pattern with that yarn, it'll come out really weird and possibly won't fit. Meanwhile, I've got some nice dark fuchsia Homespun I could use...I think I'll probably just do that.

I've been thinking about the shawl I'm going to make for my grandmother. I don't know if I should make it in the olive green Homespun that I already have, or buy another color. My goal was originally to use up what I already have, since I have a heck of a lot of Homespun; but that's not working out so well! Anyway, I don't know if she would wear green. But I can figure that out later.

S & B tomorrow! Woohoooo!!! I am going to bring along the poncho I just finished, and maybe I'll bring some of the stitch markers I make just to show off.

Update, with lots of pics!

Time for a big photo-heavy update. First, here's my finished poncho for my 6-year-old niece:

And a close-up of the scalloped edge detail (also, you can see the color of the yarn better here):

And a picture of the poncho-in-progress for my 4-year-old niece:

And, last but not least, I've been making stitch markers again (these and others for sale at The Smiling Turtle):

I am very happy with the way the first poncho came out. I'd started the second one with a smaller hook, but then had to frog it and re-start with the same hook size as I'd used for the first one, since it was coming out too small.

I got to go to a Stitch and Bitch last Wednesday! I just found out recently that it meets down the street from where I work. Sweet! I had so much fun meeting people and crocheting. I plan to go back as often as I can (probably almost every week).

I have become somewhat obsessed with Noro Taiyo yarn. Here's a pic of the 1 skein I own:

It is so beautiful! It is telling me that it wants to become fingerless gloves. Unfortunately, it's also telling me that it wants to be a scarf and a hat. NEED MORE!!! Heehee. Luckily, my birthday is coming up... ;)

I bought it (and some Lorna's Laces Honor and Queensland Sugar Rush) at Fresh Purls in Providence, RI when I was there visiting some friends for Columbus Day weekend. It's a really nice store, with very helpful and friendly saleswomen.

Guess that's it for now! I'm glad I got some good sunlight for picture-taking today.